Crime thriller set in AMSTERDAM
Talking Location With author Tom Callaghan – Kyrgyzstan
28th August 2018
#TalkingLocationWith... author Tom Callaghan. His thriller An Autumn Hunting is set in Kyrgyzstan.
Everyone knows how important location and setting is in a book. The danger is, of course, that some locations become too familiar – who needs another crime book set in NYC, or LA, or Miami? Kyrgyzstan was and still is an unknown place, with a lot of problems, crime, corruption, poverty, two revolutions in less than ten years – what more could a crime writer ask for?
Ala Archa Stream
If you’ve never heard of Kyrgyzstan – and most people haven’t – it’s a former Soviet country sandwiched between China and Kazakhstan, mountainous, remote and very beautiful.
I discovered the country by marrying a Kyrgyz woman and acquiring a stepson. From the very beginning, I was captivated both by the landscape and the sense of finding myself in a unique setting, where poverty and revolution had given people a sense of pragmatism and resilience, together with great pride in their cultural traditions.
The high pastures near Ash
That was one of the first things that impressed me. Everyone knew the story of Manas, the Kyrgyz warrior and hero whose image is everywhere, and whose exploits are recounted in a 500,000 line poem.
I’ve taken the two-day journey over the mountains from Bishkek to Osh, sleeping in a yurt in a remote mountain village where the family slaughtered a sheep in our honour.
I’ve travelled out to the southern side of Lake Issyk-Kul, the world’s second-largest Alpine lake, to meet one of the traditional eagle hunters.
I’ve drunk fermented mare’s milk (kumis) and eaten beshbarmek (‘five fingers’) mutton and noodles, named after the traditional way of eating it.
At Ata-Beyit Cemetery
I’ve bought bunches of cherries, buckets of plums, apples, apricots and strawberries, sold on the roadside by middle-aged ladies who’d plucked them for their garden that morning.
I’ve survived 30C summers and -30C winters.
And everywhere I’ve been struck by the hospitality of people who often don’t have very much to give, or to spare.
There’s great beauty here, but also the problems that come with poverty. People having to move to Russia to work and support their families. Corruption and nepotism are rife. And the history of the Kyrgyz people is one of more sorrow than joy.
At Ata-Beyit Cemetery
My latest book, An Autumn Hunting has its final climax at Ata-Beyit, the national memorial cemetery, where the great novelist, Chingiz Aitmatov is buried, together with the bodies of Kyrgyz intellectuals ‘purged’ in the 1930s, including Aitmatov’s father. Also buried here are some of the victims killed during the second revolution in 2010. So it seems appropriate to end this post with an image of my book taken at Ata-Beyit, as a tribute to the people of Kyrgyzstan and their perseverance against great odds.
Well, I have certainly learned a little more about Kyrgyzstan, what a fascinating country. Do connect with Tom on Facebook and via his website
Do come and join team TripFiction on Social Media:
Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction)
Please wait...
What a great #TalkingLocationWith piece. Thanks, Tom.
‘Everyone knows how important location and setting is in a book.’ Absolutely. And how original a location Kyrgyzstan is for a novel.
I’ve always wanted to go there since my nephew told me how beautiful the landscape is, and how friendly the people are, when he was on a World Challenge expedition there, while still at school.
Tom’s article has only reinforced my desire to get there too.
TF’s Andrew